INCREASING STUDENT

MOTIVATION

WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO

PARTICIPATE IN THE
LEGO LESSON?

Hands-on/project based?
Challenging, but achievable?
Prizes?
Creativity?
Clear expectations and
instructions?
Immediate feedback?

HOW DO WE MOTIVATE
STUDENTS TO LEARN?

Often students are physically present and

mentally absent or just plain absent
How do we build intrinsic (desire to learn)
motivation?
Is extrinsic (rewards or punishment)
motivation useful?
How does classroom climate build
motivation?
Teachers expectations?

How does creativity enter into the arena of

motivation?
Do our text books assist us to motivate
students?
Do parents motivate students?
Do multimodal strategies assist in motivating
students?
How does direct instruction assist in
motivating students?

STUDENT MOTIVATION TO
LEARN
Linda S. Lumsden
(Eric Digest 92 June 1994)

Students learn when they can make sense of

their environment
Building student motivation requires
commitment on the part of the teacher to
implement highly structured, multi-modal
lessons
Students learn when they are engaged

FACTORS WHICH
INFLUENCE THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
STUDENT
Modeling,
followed MOTIVATION:
by guided practice, no

long lectures/direct instruction only

Clear communication of teacher expectations
for projects, guided practice, independent
practice and grading (rubrics)use specific
short-term goals
Direct instruction of socialization procedures
(how to work in groups, etc.)building the
appropriate classroom climate

Classroom climate also includes the

expectation that everyone participates, the
student feels a sense of belonging and their
input is valued.
Instilling in students the belief that they can
learn coupled with high teacher expectations
Nurturing self-worth, a sense of competence
and autonomy
Teach students to concentrate on the task,
rather than be distracted by fear of failure

Teaching students how to approach and cope

with different learning situations
Assist students to retrace their steps to solve
problems so they wont be distracted by
frustration
Failure is a result of lack of information or not
using the appropriate problem solving
techniques, not lack of ability
Learning is incremental and requires task
mastery

JOHN GOODLAD:

All those characteristics we commonly

regard as positive elements in the classroom
were more to be observed at the early
elementary level. A decline set in by the
upper elementary grades and continued
through the secondary years, with a sharp
drop at the junior high level (1984)

EXTRINSIC VS. INTRINSIC

REWARDS:

Try to imagine a highly motivated scientist

who has not been rewarded for doing
science, a singer who has not been rewarded
for singing, an inventor who has not been
rewarded for inventing, [a teacher who does
not get paid for teaching.] Outstanding
achievement always produces extrinsic
rewards of some kind; how else, then, do
outstanding achievers maintain their
motivation? (Slavin, 1991)

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm & Michael

Smith Summer, 2005

Use inquiry based instruction (what could

be?) Reframe teaching as inquiry
Take students out of their zone of proximal
development, to the point where they can still
experience success
Focus on experience, on what they can do,
on what is currently relevant
Use social discourse to share what was
learned

What did we ever learn, alone, that we got

right the first time (kissing, cooking?)
What kids see in school is not what they see
in real life
John Dewey (Democracy in Education)
Education focuses on what is expected, not
what is relevant. Education should not just
be preparation for college, it needs to be
practical.
habitusThe common sense notion that
the way things are is the way they have to be

Students are different now (really?); we can

not teach them the way we were taught.
Visual aids and interactive instruction with
attention to prior knowledge and relating
lessons to real life are a must to motivate
them.

NEVER TEACH A PIG

TO SINGIT IS A WASTE
OF YOUR TIME AND
IT ANNOYS THE PIG
We need to give students a reason
to want to learn

SAMPLE STRATEGIES:

Be sure to have an extra activity for student

groups who finish earlyin lego activity,
group members orally explained to groups
who did not finish quickly
Think outside the box: You may not belief
that there are six errors in this short
paragraph. Study the paragraph carefuly.
You can reed it as many times as necessary.
Dont give up to easily. See if you can find all
of them.

Give students a choice of activities whenever

possible
Have them write an action plan before
beginning a project
Acknowledge resistance to help overcome it
(Jon Odell). As a participant in this training
are you an expert, a vacationer, an inquisitor,
or a prisoner?
Let students write review questions for the
lesson

Be aware of preconditioned ideas your

students may have: quickly jot down the
name of a color, a flower and a piece
furniturehow many at your table wrote the
same items down and why? (Ronald Rahn)
Thinking outside the box and creative
problem solving (Tony Manning): Make a
paper airplane which will fly. Now take a fresh
sheet of paper and make another flying
object.

Checking comprehension: (Janice

Syablewski) give students a card that is red
on one side and green on the other. Have
students hold up the appropriate card when
checking for comprehension.
Use your students as teachersgive them
strict guidelines and have groups teach a
lesson. MORE TO FOLLOW